by By Brian Tumulty, Gannett Washington Bureau

by By Brian Tumulty, Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- New York and New Jersey transit riders should not have to pay higher fares to help pay the $7 billion cost of repairing damage caused by Superstorm Sandy, regional transportation officials said Thursday.

"I don't believe that in the immediate future or even the long-term future that our riders will be paying higher fares directly because of Sandy," Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman and CEO Joseph Lhota told reporters after testifying at a Senate subcommittee hearing. "I am convinced, based on conversations that I have had with folks in the administration, that we are going to get a significant amount of money and that's going to cover most of our costs."

Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, who chaired the hearing before the Senate Commerce subcommittee on surface transportation, estimated the region's transportation system suffered $7 billion in damage.

"A storm of this magnitude requires a response with the force of the federal government," Lautenberg said.

Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said in separate interviews they expect Congress to support the request to rebuild the region's transportation system.

"It might be easier to create a closer estimate for the cost to fix it," Gillibrand said. "It's something that's more tangible, more certain."

Schumer said the federal government traditionally has covered transportation costs after a disaster.

"Transportation is vital and it's public," he said. "It makes this one of the easier amounts of dollars to get."

Schumer said he and other lawmakers are lobbying the administration to ask Congress to approve enough money in a supplemental disaster spending bill to finance projects that would help protect the region's transportation system in the event of a similar storm. Merely replacing 100-year-old equipment isn't fiscally prudent -- or possible, in some cases -- because parts are no longer manufactured.

The MTA is requesting $5 billion of federal transportation aid. Its biggest repair projects include the Queens Midtown Tunnel, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and $600 million to rebuild the South Ferry subway station in lower Manhattan.

Its request is mostly to repair damaged tunnels and replace equipment, including electrical substations, signal equipment, trains, and ticket vending machines that were contaminated by salt water. But the repair work stretches throughout the system, from Westchester County on the Metro North line to the eastern end of the Long Island Rail Road.

The MTA request also includes $168 million for lost revenue and immediate operating expenses attributable to service disruptions caused by Sandy.

The region's multi-billion-dollar request for federal help in rebuilding transportation infrastructure also includes $841 million for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, $400 million for New Jersey Transit and $336 million for Amtrak.

Amtrak is requesting $60 million to cover operating losses and $276 million to provide enhanced protection for Penn Station in Manhattan and the surrounding tunnels. It also would help pay to begin design and construction of the system's Gateway Program for a new tunnel between New York and New Jersey.

The request by the Port Authority covers a wide range of facilities. The agency operates the Lincoln and Holland vehicular tunnels between Manhattan and New Jersey, as well as the George Washington Bridge and three other bridges, the region's major airports, the PATH train system linking the two states under the Hudson River, and the nation's largest shipping port.

New Jersey Transit estimated that in addition to the $400 million needed for repairs, another $800 million is needed for mitigation to harden the system to withstand a future storm of similar severity.

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